WHY SNAPCHAT WILL BE GREAT FOR B2B COMPANIES

I don’t understand how people don’t see the obvious, common trend of what happens to popular social networks like Snapchat.

They don’t see that these platforms start off young, start off consumer based, start in a niche, and then go mainstream. It baffles me that people don’t understand that when an app hits 100 million active users, it’s gone mainstream. And what does that mean? It means that the platform can start to mature and start getting deeper into the business world. That’s because once you have the attention of the 35 to 65 year old world, you now have the potential to cross over into the B2B world.

I always like to say “Behind every B is a C.” What that means is, behind every business there is a human that is making the decisions. If you’re selling a phone system or a SaaS product to a big corporation, a human being is still making that decision. If you’re able to make content on a platform around interests in your specific industry, you’ve put yourself in a position to do B2B business.

Though Snapchat is not the place that I would recommend doing B2B activity right now (Facebook, LinkedIn, and places like Medium are still your best bet), I am completely convinced that in 24 to 36 months, as the platform dramatically ages up and starts hitting the 30 to 50 year old demo, there will be enormous possibilities. Snapchat will be an excellent place for B2B players who act like media companies — media companies that create stories to bring value to their end users. Those players will find their niche and their audience, allowing them to disproportionately pick up business. Meanwhile, their competitors will still be debating the ROI of Snapchat. And they’ll be left behind if they can’t adapt and evolve with the evolution of these platforms.

The reason I believe B2B will be so successful on Snapchat is because I see it as being very similar to YouTube. Snapchat might be different context, but what I mean is that it’s not just a platform for entertainment. YouTube started as an entertainment platform, and it has become a search engine, probably the second largest in the world. The amount of how-to videos available on it, information, and DIYs is insane. I feel that Snapchat will get on the same level. There will be some plumber in America who becomes famous by doing two minute videos broken up in 20 sections on how to fix things yourself.

Snapchat will give us the next GaryVee of wine. It will give us the next homemade superstar, like Justin Bieber. It will grow and dominate in a way that many of you will continue to not take serious. Don’t wait too long. Don’t wait until it’s too nosiey and crowded to see the huge advantages and upside you’re looking for.